visited and enjoyed by many thousands of people each year, while they are of immense value to students as a vast scientific treasure-house of the vegetable kingdom. But Ayrton, who has control of the Public Works, in which the Kew Gardens are included, a surly, grouty, ill-mannered, and meddlesome old politician, seems to have taken every occasion to make himself disagreeable to Dr. Hooker by impertinent interference with his management, and various kinds of insulting treatment. Dr. Hooker endured it as long as he could, but his position at length became so uncomfortable that he felt himself compelled either to resign or to appeal to the government to keep its bully somewhere within the bounds of decent behavior. When the facts became known, a committee of the most eminent scientific men of England, including Lyell, Tyndall, Busk, Huxley, Darwin, and others, drew up an elaborate statement of the case, and appealed to Mr. Gladstone to check the outrageous course of Ayrton, and make it possible for Dr. Hooker to continue his relations to the establishment. This waked up the press, who were not slow to ventilate the case, and the subject was at length brought before Parliament. The effect has been that the crabbed Superintendent of Works has received a sharp and thorough public rebuke, which will probably exert a salutary influence upon his future behavior.
The Work of the Coast Survey.—We copy from the Tribune the following notices of papers which were read at the late scientific meeting:
Prof. Benjamin Pierce, Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey, gave an exceedingly interesting account of the measures taken by that Bureau with reference to stations for astronomical observations at great heights, such as Sherman, on the Rocky Mountains. Prof. Young, of Dartmouth College, was selected by Prof. Pierce as the proper astronomer to determine the best position for astronomical observations. In a higher position you get rid of absorption of light by getting rid of half the atmosphere. This problem Prof. Young was specially adapted to investigate, as his knowledge of spectrum analysis is superior to that of any other man in this country. Prof. Young reports the whole number of lines in the chromosphere seen from Sherman as 150, which is three times as great a number as have been observed before. This fact alone shows that higher points should be resorted to for astronomical observations. Telescopes will hereafter be placed at points higher than ever before—in Europe probably on the Alps. The next element of success depends upon the steadiness of the atmosphere. It can be said in reference to this, that a star has been recognized at these high altitudes as having a companion, or being a double star, not previously known as such. An observer on the Pacific coast reports to Prof. Pierce that he can see the companion of the star Polaris from a high point on the Sierra Nevada. It is well known that this is a test of great nicety, requiring the utmost purity of atmosphere. As to the character of the observations for precision, there are not yet sufficient observations to determine it. The evidence is already at hand to show that at some of these elevated points an observatory should be established. The best work in astronomy is done in the few best nights at any place, and by these alone the value of the position must be determined.
Prof. J. Lawrence Smith adverted to the extreme brilliancy of stars in those regions. West of Sherman the air is so dry that even the lips of observers crack, and their health is otherwise affected. He thought that more exact observations upon the planets and satellites would be made from those lofty points which would add as much of interest to this department of astronomy as did the recent discoveries in stellar analysis. It was resolved that Prof. Pierce should be added to the committee to press this matter of elevated astronomical stations upon the Government of the United States.
Prof. Pierce showed that the necessities of the Coast Survey extended its operations to all parts of the United States. No science could be divided and separated so as to stand alone. If one begins by measuring his town-lots, the method involves geometry and astronomy, geology and surveying, including ultimately the coast survey. To prove the paths by which vessels can best
